1. Field of the Invention
The present application relates to ice making machines and specifically to ice making machines that can be installed beneath a standard height counter top.
2. Background
Ice making machines are well known in the art and typically include an ice cube making mechanism located in an insulated bin for retaining a volume of ice cubes produced thereby. Ice makers designed for installation below the level of a countertop are also known. The below countertop positioning has the advantages of not taking up valuable countertop space and not blocking vision of a particular area. A problem with ice makers positioned beneath a counter top concerns the ease of serviceability thereof. The refrigeration components, such as, the compressor and condenser are required to be located beneath the bin. Thus, removal or servicing of such components requires that the ice maker be removed from underneath the counter and that the bin then be removed. Various strategies have been proposed to facilitate this type of servicing requirement. However, there remains a need to provide for ease of serviceability in under counter ice machines in a manner that the ice maker can also be relatively low in cost.
A further problem frequently encountered in ice makers of all types is the need for service calls. Oftentimes a service call results where the machine fails to operate to produce ice because of some transient effect but not because there is anything mechanically wrong with its components. Thus, for example, the condenser temperature can become too high because a vent path has become inadvertently but temporarily blocked. If the machine goes into permanent shut down, a service person will need to make the call only to find that the machine starts to run normally when reset because the object blocking normal cooling air flow has been removed. Many such situations occur for which a service call would not be required. Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a control for an ice making machine that could reduce the number of service calls required as the result of transient problems not resulting from actual mechanical problems with the ice maker.